When a Crew Loses One
by nopickup
Summary: As the captain of the ship, he has to respect her decision.
1. Chapter 1

I ran as soon as I heard, ran as though life would be over, ran hoping that it was just a lie, or ran hoping that I'd still make it.

I can hear my own footsteps as they rapidly threaded on the wooden stairs of Sunny. I gasped for air, not because I was already getting exhausted of the tremendous speed I was exhibiting, rather because my mind was in a state of unstableness. I was hoping.

I can see the door. I slammed it open and in a split second I was inside the room. I saw my crew standing in her room, among the maps she had drawn. They were silent, their faces… I had no time to observe. As soon as I slammed open the door, everyone looked at me, then one by one, slowly turned their eyes away from me. Only Chopper had the courage to stay still and tell me with his crying eyes and sobbing voice,

"Luffy, she left."

With those words of Chopper, I felt all my muscles stood still, my breath became silent, as though I had not experience fatigue from running. Then I started hearing Chopper cry, cry like he always do, cry like a baby abandoned by her mother, cry aloud that my heart was awakened and made me realize what just happened.

Pressing my fist hard against my chest, I started to run again, run until I reached the deck, and under the clear, blue sky filled with cirrus clouds, I shouted,

"NAAAAAMMMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

It wasn't really a suitable atmosphere for these kinds of situation. The sun was shining bright and the waves of the sea were at peace, fresh breeze met our faces and busy people's voices can be heard over the port.

It wasn't really a suitable atmosphere for grief.

The sun had set and nighttime arrived. I thought it was the only day that Sunny became silent with the crew on board.

I lie down the figurehead of Sunny on the bowsprit, body facing the dark waters of the sea, face directed at the unending horizon ahead of me.

Suddenly, I heard someone coming towards me.

"Luffy, why don't we go and find her? We might still be able to convince her to come back."

I stayed still, as if I did not hear Chopper's plea.

"Luffy! Why aren't you doing anything?! Let us go and find her."

"It was her decision to leave."

"And you're just gonna let her walk away?! You're the captain of this ship. You must be able to do something."

I started hearing Chopper's crying voice again, but I did not allow another word to escape from my lips.

"BAKA-LUFFY!!"

After meeting disappointment with me, Chopper ran back inside, crying, crying like he always do, crying like a baby abandoned by her mother, crying aloud, again.

Not long enough after being alone again, another stood behind me, but I know that this time it was my first-mate, though he said nothing.

"She won't be coming back, will she?" I asked Zoro as I continued to stare at the endless horizon.

There was a gap between my question and his answer; nevertheless, I already knew what his response would be, and it would not change a thing.

"No."


	2. Chapter 2

"YOSHA! IT'S PARTY TIME!!"

Luffy announced in such great enthusiasm as he held a chunk of meat in his right hand as if holding a scepter of victory. Then without blinking, the energetic captain immediately indulged himself in the pile of scrumptious dish prepared by Sanji-kun on the party table.

Seriously, I still cannot fully imagine that he is our captain. But he is.

Everyone seems to be really having a lot of fun. Sure, because being with this crew gives you more than fun. It's not something I would trade for, even for a dozen billion of belli, and you ought to believe that after hearing it from someone whose god is money. Bringing grief to this bunch of people is the last thing I would want to do, but why would I even think of including that in the options?

As the day closed to an end, everybody seemed to be already preoccupied with each of his or her own concern. Sunny's deck was given certain bliss for a while. As I stood in the open space, I saw the most carefree captain lying on the figurehead of Sunny by the bowsprit, back rubbing against the lion's parietal, face kissing the rays of the setting sun, sleeping. I took light-weight steps as I covered the distance between my initial location and the captain's sacred seat. I stared at his blithe face; assured by his wide-opened mouth which gave out a rhythmic melody of his snoring with a bonus of his very own watery saliva streaming down his cheek, I spoke to him.

"Luffy… I will leave the ship."

Without seeing any signs of him hearing a word of what I just said, I continued.

"And please do not ask me why or even try to stop me."

A couple of coughs springing from my lungs ended my secret confession.

I opted to stare at his peaceful sleeping face for a while. Confirming the absence of any signs of consciousness, I started to thread my way back to the cabin.

I was only successful for a couple of steps.

"When are you leaving?"

My eyes rounded as my ears heard the unexpected but known voice. Muscles stiffened, fists clenched. I turned my body slightly around, slowly, as I feel the dusk breeze brushing through my orange hair.

He was sitting, facing the setting sun. I can't see his eyes.

"I wouldn't tell you," I smirked. "It's a surprise."

Hearing no response, I continued to walk my path back to the cabin. As I reached for the door, a cough let itself out from my mouth again. This time, a voice which had always annoyed me in some way or another came splashing on my ears.

"Will that be such a wise idea?"

A muscle-stuffed body gift-wrapped with a marimo head stood by the entrance. I glanced at the snooping swordsman without turning my head, and then directed my eyes back to the cabin door.

"I will not talk to you," giving out another cough afterwards.

As I took a step inside, he startled me again with his succeeding words.

"That cough… would it be best for Chopper to take a look at it?"

Yes, it startled me, but responded by just ignoring him and continuing my walk towards the interior beyond the door.

He noticed.

That's what I hate about him. He would seldom give out his opinions, but when he does, there's always a striking force with it, and I hate that I heard his voice this time.

He noticed.

The thing that I so carefully prevented Chopper from doing so, he noticed.

I hate it.


	3. Chapter 3

My name is Trafalgar Law, and I'm a surgeon of death, or at least that's what rumors say.

I once met a young and beautiful girl of slim body, brown eyes, and orange hair in Fishman Island. Her name was Nami, and she's part of that rookie Straw Hat kid's crew, but I still was not aware of it at that time, or maybe I already was and just had forgotten about it. Not that it's important anyway.

There's something about her that caught my attention; therefore, resulting in me not able to resist studying her as she stood in front of that seashell shop; therefore, resulting in me not able to prevent my feet from walking towards her, approaching her. She had such a cunning smile, perfect for deceiving people, sweet enough to allow her target to lose sanity and be completely fooled.

There's something about her.

I observed, and then I talked.

"You cough yet you're not ill. You're critical yet you're not dying."

She stared at me, and by the looks on her face, it seemed that what she just heard was not much of a surprise.

She giggled, and then she looked at me from head to toe, and toe to head, giving me a smirk afterwards.

"Trafalgar Law… so it seems that the rumors about you are true after all."

"Rumors are rumors. If they are true, then it's not worthy of its name anymore."

I saw through her brown eyes that I gave her an astonishing response. She was indeed lovely.

"Then I guess we just have to call it with another name," she giggled once more. What an excellent craftsmanship of beauty; made me excited to slice her up and examine every detail of her exquisiteness.

Her delicate fingers brushed over the set of seashells on display. She would take one in her hand, examine it for a while, put it back, and then get another one.

"Yes, you are right," she said. "I am far from dying. I am still too young to experience such a horrible event."

I cannot resist the flawlessness of her skin. If I indeed am the surgeon of death, this kind of beauty was too much for me. I should not stay long. Both I and my nodachi were getting excited.

"But to vanish is far even graver than dying, isn't, oujo-san?"

She looked at me once more, this time, as if I had just uncovered her most sacred secret.

"Back from where I was standing a while ago, I thought that for a second I saw light passing through you, as if you were losing your opacity."

She put down the piece of seashell that was in her hand and made a slight turn, allowing her body to face mine. Her body was facing me but she turned her head towards the sky as she talked.

"There's a rumor in East Blue that if you mess up with the guardian of the red pearl, of which they say is indeed a goddess, a curse will be cast on you and you're gonna vanish." She looked at me. "Well, it's just a rumor. If it's true, then it's not worthy of its name anymore." Then I saw her ingenious smile again.

Like her, I also scanned the seashells that were there and took one in my hand. I held one of her precious hands and placed the shell on her delicate palm.

"Does this beautiful lady own a name?" I asked.

"Nami," she answered, as I closed her palm on the shell.

"See you again, Nami-san. Until then, I hope you can remain visible."

Then I bid her farewell.

Yes, I have heard of that rumor, and I guess we also ought to call it now with another name.

It is too unfortunate for that Straw Hat kid to lose a nakama as lovely as her. It is too unfortunate.


End file.
